1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display (“LCD”) and a method of operating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Display apparatus, as used in a monitor of a computer, a television set, a mobile display device, etc., come in various types including a cathode ray tube (“CRT”), a field emission device (“FED”) and a liquid crystal display (“LCD”). Since the LCD is a non-emissive display apparatus, the LCD requires an additional light source to emit light and provide that light to the LCD.
The LCD includes a backlight unit (“BLU”), a driving circuit unit and a liquid crystal panel. The BLU provides light to the liquid crystal panel and the driving circuit unit operates the liquid crystal panel. The liquid crystal panel includes liquid crystal cells arranged in the form of a matrix. A light transmittance of each liquid crystal cell may be changed according to a voltage charged in the liquid crystal cell. That is, the liquid crystal display controls the light transmittance of the liquid crystal cell through the driving circuit unit, and displays images by providing light from the BLU to the liquid crystal cell.
After manufacturing the LCD, it is subject to an aging process in order to perform quality control. The aging process is performed to test characteristics and reliability of the LCD by placing it in age testing equipment and varying temperature and humidity in the testing equipment. In addition, the performance of the LCD is stabilized through the aging process. The aging process may be applied to each LCD, or may be applied to one or more LCDs out of a batch of LCDs in order to ensure quality control of the batch.
The aging process includes a high voltage stress (“HVS”) test. The high voltage stress test is performed by operating the LCD using driving voltages having a higher voltage level than those of normal operational driving voltages (for example, an analog drive voltage, and gate on/off voltages) that are used to drive the LCD during normal operation. The high voltage stress test improves a defective detection rate and reduces a total duration of the aging process.